Archive for the ‘observations’ category

i sit behind a young girl and what appear to be her three children also having lunch. the oldest was a girl around 6-7 years old. next was a 4-5 year old boy. and then there was an infant in the porta-craddle at her side. while the girl only appeared to be in her mid-twenties at most, i can’t say for sure if they were her kids- but here in urban-land babies come unto girls in early adolescence.

well, by now you’ve probably conjured a stereotypical image of what i might say: frustrated young mother… babies having babies… kids screaming… running all over the place. the ordinary wouldnt be much to write about. what amazed me was the extreme opposite of any stereotype.

the two toddlers were extremely well behaved. not fidgety, not fighting for attention, not protesting. all in all they were all pretty quiet, but the mother did periodically talk to her children and take moments to coo and smile into the craddle of the infant. quite pleasant and i admired their dynamics.

so as i sat there i debated whether they were her kids or what. my impulse was to find rhyme and reason for not being stereotypical. after they finished their un-hurried lunch and prepared to leave, there was an inclination to their composures. the young boy had one of the beloved fast food happy meal toys. he was attemping to break it. it seemed he might have been trying to taught his mother who said to him, “it’s not mine, break it if you want. but if you do i’m gonna throw it away.” he couldnt resist- he broke it. the mother swiftly took it from him and threw it into the trash. it gets more intriguing– no protests, no tears. yes he looked disappointed, but he appeared to know he asked for it in some way. and only moments later the mother warmly gave her infant more coo’s and smiles. i was impressed.

i can only assume the mother’s solid demeanor is testimony to the parental practices of being sincere. no threats, no false promises, no anger- just a strict adherence to her words. and her words were not extreme or without warrant. wow.

this evening before heading to see david bach speak i went to get one of my favorite burritos… chipotle. my homage is to one of the original locations- 34th st which has a few stools at the front window for people watching… “the fishbowl,” as afresh calls is.

i wasnt fortunate enough to have a fishbowl viewing stool for my meal thus my people watching was limited to the fish on my side of the glass. what caught my eye was someone sitting at the viewing stools, back facing me, who anxiously brushed some lettuce from his counter space to the floor- almost angrily. it was obviously lettuce from his own burrito but as i look at the denigrated lettuce i wondered just who was supposed to clean it up. my “socially incorrect” side wanted to pick it up and say, “sir, you dropped this,” but i lacked the audience of friends to be prodded into such behavior.

but the irritation grew in me. i wanted to ask him, “would you do that in your own home?” then why do it here? it perplexes me how all the things we learn and follow in our homes becomes null and void once venturing into public arenas. i mean- who exactly is supposed to clean that up? we all “know” who it will be- but why? this isnt fine dining- it’s a $6.xx fast food burrito served by near minimum wage workers. what privilge entitles this shmuck to purposely fling food on the floor and expect someone else to clean it up? this is actually something that really irritates me about smokers- “i’m done with my fix. now i throw my butt on the ground, stomp on it, and leave it as a reminder to society of my existence. if someone is really bothered enough by my trash- they can pick it up themselves.”

i’m reminded of a book titled, “all I really need to know I learned in kindergarten.” most people have read it, or at least fliped through it. “play fair. dont hit people. put things back where you found them. clean up your own mess. etc.” when/where is it we lose these lessons? we become so consumed with our own advancement we eventually think we’re entitled to have anonymous slaves clean up our refuse while we continue our pursuit of personal gains. c’mon- grow up. no one’s that special.

for all those of you who dont wipe your own asses- you’re excused. for the rest of you who wipe your own asses at home, dont expect someone to do it for you elsewhere.

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